Intégrale De L'Œuvre Pour Orgue : N° IX, X, XI, XII

Released in 1960 on the French label Résonances, this recording represents a mid-century effort to capture the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach. The project featured the French organist and composer Jean-Jacques Grünenwald, a noted virtuoso who served as the titular organist at Saint-Sulpice in Paris. These specific volumes, numbers IX through XII, highlight the intersection of mid-century European recording technology with the historical performance movement that sought to revitalize the appreciation of Baroque organ music.

Grünenwald’s approach to these recordings reflected his deep immersion in both the classical traditions of the organ and his own modern sensibilities as a composer. By pairing Bach’s complex contrapuntal structures with the acoustic character of the instruments available to him at the time, the series contributed to a growing post-war archival interest in standardizing the discography of classical organ literature. The recording was produced for a niche audience of audiophiles and ecclesiastical music enthusiasts, serving as a significant document of French liturgical performance practice during the mid-20th century.